Your Fitness Fixer Requests in the Works
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM
Thank you for the many e-mails. I am sorting through the piles. Readers are sending success stories, long and short, of improving their lives and fixing injuries and the moves that produced them. They changed their mindset so that exercise is not something you change clothes and go "do" - if you can make time - but all the ways you sit, bend, reach, lift, and move all day in real life, using muscles to hold the positioning that prevents body aches and joint wear and tear, and comfortable easy movement. They are now getting fresh air, sunshine, balance, and real exercise going to work or grocery shopping on a real bike or walking on real ground, instead of driving then rushing home or to the gym to "do" exercise, illogically spending money on an artificial machine, exercise cycle, or treadmill. Instead of thinking they have to lose weight first to try things, they are using daily movement to be able to exercise for the first time without injury. They are saving money and health, eating real food instead of processed unhealthful "sports food."
Yoga instructor David from Belgium first asked about fixing knee pain and fallen arches in the comments of the post Thank You Grand Rounds 3.51. Since then, he quickly applied the posts I recommended and fixed his pain, no longer needed shoe orthotics, sent photos of new progress, asked about other injuries from yoga, changed how he teaches yoga, given his students my techniques, started making short mpeg movies for us (see the first here), and is translating my work into Dutch for his web site and students. I look forward to more collaboration. Watch for wonderful posts to come.
There have been a small number of e-mails from readers applying techniques in ways so "unclear on the concept," that some posts may turn out to be Readers Inspiring Stories of What Not To Do. All for the greater good, learning, and health.
If I can't get to everything in the comments I will make posts for you, don't worry. I read and want to get to them all. The top number of requests for posts, so far, are how to stop shoulder injury from swimming, baseball and weight lifting; low back pain from swimming, baseball, and golf; separating truth from advertising in orthotics and shoe inserts; more healthy sports food; rowing; sports drugs; hamstring injuries (often from the usual bad stretches); plantar fasciitis; knee pain from rowing, yoga, and walking; wrist pain from pushups and handstands; healthy sitting; and many requests for martial arts and self defense for body and mind. If you have other requests, let me know. Until I post each specifically, start with:
- Shoulder - use for all overhead reaching and lifting
- Lower back - learn the concept and apply to all sports
- Orthotics
- Yoga ankles
- Drugs
- Sports Food, what is good and what is not
- Hamstring
- Plantar fasciitis - details in comments of Why So Many Aerobics Injuries?
- Wrists
- Sitting
- Knees
- Martial arts
- Spirit
Photo by karynsig
Labels: education, fix pain, mind, orthotics, posture, practice of medicine, readers inspiring story, sitting, weight loss, yoga
5 Comments:
At Thursday, November 08, 2007 1:55:00 AM, Anonymous said…
Good stuff!
At Thursday, November 08, 2007 8:26:00 AM, Anonymous said…
..I always appreciate the little Zingers you throw in--''How are you sitting while you read this??'' got me.....
...plan to change the way I read in bed now too.....
.....thanks for the tips.......
At Wednesday, November 14, 2007 4:03:00 PM, Allan Nelson said…
You have recommended squats and lunges for knee pain management. I'm very overweight and have osteoarthritis in both knees. Assuming I do the lunges as specified should I still avoid them?
At Monday, November 19, 2007 6:44:00 PM, Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM said…
Hello Allan, I understand your concern. This kind of lunge and squat is the kind for healthy bending for daily life - Free Exercise and Free Back and Knee Pain Prevention - Healthy Bending. Proper movement and exercise is supposed to help the knee, not make it hurt more. It will also allow you to move more so that you can get the movement you need for health, for feeling good, and weight control. It is not the full lunge or squat to the floor done in the gym. When you do this, you will feel right away if it is helping or wrong. If it hurts, it is not right. Also, in general, keep heels down going up stairs to shift weight from the knee joint to the thigh muscles - Better Exercise on the Stairs. There are "camps" about knee pain management. Some camps believe any lunge or squat-like bending is bad. They have you sit with a small leg weight at the ankle and lift that with a straight knee. But how are you supposed to stand up and walk away and have normal life function? This, done with the brain and the aim of restoring function, retrains the motion to be healthful. Send me photos if you like, or come to a workshop so I can take a look and we can have fun doing this together (and with your health providers) - safely.
At Thursday, March 06, 2008 8:13:00 PM, Sloan said…
Dear Dr Jolie.
I must have missed this post. I was concerned that I would not be able to do the lounges because my knee would hurt. I realized I was doing them wrong. I was too spread out. After doing a little adjustment I was able to do them pain free. I now plan to put them back into my everyday routine. My next move is to start doing the light jumps and maybe move on to one of my favorite movement. Skipping. A little apprehensive though. Also trying to get back into my walking outdoor. I do feel better when I do it outdoor as opposed to on a treadmill. I have been riding a indoor bike in preparation for my Caye West trip I take once a year. We rent bikes and ride around town for hours. Had a little soreness in the knees at first but it is getting better. Whenever I begin questioning myself I just pull up your previous posts and i am set to go again. Thank you again. Sloan
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